Judy's Blog

Yesterday, Tom Fossick and his crew planned to meet Nancy and me at the BCA corners so that we could show them where to plant the screening arborvitae ('Emerald Green' and "Georgia Peabody') we'd purchased. They'd removed the above-ground portion of the old oversheared (but reliable!) yews on the low side of the corners last spring, and now had to remove the root stumps to be able to plant the new shrubs. The topography of the area makes using a mechanical stump remover or a chain unsafe, so removing them manually was the only choice. HOLY MOLY! The diameter of the root stumps was literally as large as medium-sized tree trunks, and many of the stumps were still surrounded by wire baskets of a gauge that hasn't been used for many decades. Dave and Jesse had been digging for about 3 1/2 hours when I arrived at the corners at 10:30 AM, and they, plus Jimmy and JR were still at it when we left around 4:00 PM. Two other crew members finished the plantings on the high side, while Nancy and I cut off the tops of two yews, which were in the way of a couple of the Georgia Peabodys. We plan to let those roots die a natural death.

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Author, Judy Diorio

Judy's Blog is written by Blackridge's gardener-in-residence, Judy Diorio. Judy has lived in Blackridge for 25 years, and writes the BGC's "In The Garden" column for the Blackboard. She has studied horticulture and landscape design and is currently preparing to be a Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist.